Just as you might drive aimlessly around an unfamiliar area if you don’t have a map, you run the risk of drifting aimlessly throughout your working life if you don’t have a career plan. But the stakes are much higher in that case. A career plan is basically a strategic plan for your career. And they’re as important for business owners as they are for employees. Your career plan can be as simple or as complex as you like, but if you’ve never written one before, you might find it useful to start in the simplest way – with a “Career Plan on a Page” that you can write in an afternoon. To help you stay on track, at the end of this post I’ve included a one page career plan template, for you to download and complete to keep you motivated and focused. Like most plans, career plans are formulated from the three basic strategic planning questions:
- Where am I now?
- Where do I want to be in the future?
- How am I going to get there?
So the first thing you need to do to write your Career Plan is to answer those questions.
Where am I now?
To answer this question, think about:
- The stage you’re currently at in your career
- Your life stage, and future life plans – planning to start a family in the near future is likely to have a major impact on your short-term career plans
- The things you do well – the talents you have that come naturally to you – if you’re not sure, ask your family, friends and work colleagues
- Your values
- Your transferable skills – good communication skills are an example – you can take them with you from job to job. Also think about your industry-specific transferable skills, or skills that can take you from one industry to another. For example, media management skills can be used to open doors across almost any industry, as well as across media agencies; and as the basis of a freelance business.
- The things you enjoy doing, outside work as well as those related to your job
- Your dislikes
- Your work experience and qualifications
Where do I want to be in the future?
Think about:
- Your personality in terms of job fit – if you’re a free spirit, a job that requires you to clock on and off or be micro-managed would not be a good fit. If you like a 9-5 job with a regular pay packet, it’s probably not the best idea to pursue a telemarketing career.
- Your long term lifestyle preferences, and the type of salary you need to fund them
- The industries or professions you’re interested in
- The jobs you’d like to have in the future – even if they seem a long way from where you are now
How am I going to get there?
- Think about the match between your current skills and experience and those that you’ll need for your goal job.
- Then think about the gaps in skills and experience you’ll need to fill.
- And the best part of the process (it sounds like a lot of work, but will really get you motivated) – think about how you can get the skills, experience and qualifications you need for your chosen job, then fill in the action plan on the template with goals, actions required to achieve your goals, the resources you’ll need and the milestones along the way to success!
Before you start work on your career plan, there are two important things you need to know – one is that just like strategic plans and business plans, career plans are meant to be “living documents”, and need to be updated as your circumstances and ideas change. The other is that there’s a whole profession built around career planning. My “Career Plan on a Page” is a basic plan that works well for most people, but if you feel you’d benefit from a more detailed plan, or from professional career planning support; for example if you know what you’d like to do but don’t know how to get there, it’s well worth investing in a consultation with a professional career planner. If you would like a Word version of the template, which can be saved electronically, please email me and I’ll send you one by return.
